Till date, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not even managed to recover 50 per cent of the total amount of property tax (Rs 14,000) that people have defaulted on in the past 10 years. Even this year, the civic body plans to recover only Rs 4,000 crore of the pending dues by March. The amount, which was Rs 2,000 crore a decade back, has shot up to Rs 14,000 crore even with the civic body recovering portions of it over periods of time.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a civic official said, "The BMC is recovering the dues on a timely basis. The amount increased after the tax collection system was changed 10 years back." However, after Octroi was abolished, the civic body shifted its focus to collection of property tax, as it has become a primary source of revenue. In the last financial year (2017-2018), BMC collected Rs 5132.76